Research by a Leicester-based academic suggests Britain may have voted to remain in the EU if more people were university educated.

A new study by Dr Aihua Zhang, from the University of Leicester’s mathematics department, argues that a three per cent increase in the voting public accessing higher education could have reversed the Brexit result.

It also concludes that the outcome of the 2016 referendum could have been different if turnout across the UK had been lower.

His paper states: "Higher education is found to be the predominant factor dividing the nation, in particular in England and Wales, between remain and leave.”

"This analysis demonstrates highly significant evidence that university-educated British people tend to vote consistently across the UK for remain.”

The University of Leicester

The research analysed voting data from the EU referendum and statistics from the 2011 census.

It took into account factors such as sex, income level, education, age and employment.

It found that around a three per cent increase in the proportion of British adults going on to study for a degree could have reversed the referendum result.

The study, published in World Development journal, also concludes that a decrease in turnout in England and Wales of around seven per cent could have altered the outcome of last year's vote.